Invisible Death Penalty

(Proverbs 19:18 KJV)  Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying.

Why is it so important to discipline your children?  Why is it so important for you to try to discipline other people’s children if they won’t?  The option is death and destruction.

The KJV really misses it in this verse.  This is not an issue of “crying” (4191) but of “death” (NASB).  This word is used over 700 times in the OT and only here does the KJV translate it this way.  The mystery of translators is inscrutable. 

The margin says this means literally “causing him to die.”

This is serious.  I don’t care if you look at it as figurative or literal, now or later, it is disaster.

So?  Don’t put it off.  Children need discipline, correction and an adult influence.  God bless you as you seek to save their lives and souls.